Wall Street Sinks as Oil Soars

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 2.8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,420.75 at 2:31 p.m. in New York, paring its weekly gain to 2.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 45.51, or 0.4 percent, to 12,947.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 14.5, or 0.6 percent, to 2,519.23.

Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. were the Dow winners, with Chevron up 1.2 percent and Exxon up 0.9 percent. Their advances followed the sharp rise in crude futures, which rallied to a fresh high of $127.82 a barrel, before retreating a bit to $126.60, still up $2.48 a barrel, or 2 percent.

J.C. Penney Co. and other retail stocks were also downgraded by Goldman on high energy costs. J.C. Penney, the third-largest U.S. department store chain, fell $1.95 to $44.37.

U.S. consumer sentiment declined further in May, hitting a reading of 59.5 in the preliminary report from Reuters/University of Michigan, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said higher energy costs may hurt retail earnings. This marked the weakest seen since June 1980. The measure dropped to 59.5, compared with an average reading of 85.6 in 2007.

J.C. Penney Co. and other retail stocks were also downgraded by Goldman on high energy costs. J.C. Penney, the third-largest U.S. department store chain, fell $1.95 to $44.37.